[unreadable] [unreadable] Chronic and end-stage kidney disease is increasing annually. Diabetic and non-diabetic glomerular diseases including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous nephropathy and minimal change disease, are the leading causes of kidney disease. These proteinuric diseases are all characterized by injury to podocytes. Podocytes are highly specialized and terminally differentiated glomerular cells that function not only to prevent proteinuria, but also to maintain the overall integrity of the glomerular tuft. It comes as little surprise therefore that the clinical signature of podocyte injury in disease is proteinuria, which is often accompanied by a decrease in renal function. The 7th International Podocyte Conference will be held in Toronto Canada in June 2008. The world leading researchers have been invited to speak at, and chair, this state of the art and leading conference. The overall goal of the conference is to enhance the care of patients with proteinuric kidney diseases through early and specific diagnosis, and state of the art treatment strategies. The specific objectives of this conference is to bring together leading researchers and clinicians dedicated to podocyte diseases to share recent advances in the field, to establish worldwide research collaborations and networks, excite the very best scientists who are not primarily involved in this field of study to engage their efforts in this direction, and finally, to foster the interaction between clinicians and researchers to insure that the correct clinical questions are being addressed, and that the scientific advances are brought to the bedside. The specific aim of current grant proposal is to request assistance to enable young investigators to attend the conference through competitive travel grants. Efforts have been made to encourage the attendance by minorities and women, whom will be highly competitive for these travel awards. In summary, the only hope for our patients is by focused and concerted efforts such as the 7th International Podocyte Conference which will ultimately enhance their overall care. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]